Irish mobile phone company Digicel has announced its partnership with the U. S. Department of State to support the Caribbean IdEA Marketplace (CIM).
Digicel Group Chief Executive Officer Colm Delves with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the launch of the Caribbean IdEA Marketplace at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Montego Bay, Jamaica
Aimed at fostering collaboration between local and global Caribbean diaspora entrepreneurs, the business competition platform will encourage participants to develop and expand innovative projects that will generate employment and economic growth, Digicel said in a release.
According to the phone company, initial focus countries include The Bahamas, Barbados, the Dominican Republic, Guyana, Suriname, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago. The objectives of the initiative are: to bring about engagement between local, Caribbean and diaspora entrepreneurs to promote high impact development programmes; create new cross-sector partnerships for economic and social development; and exchange knowledge and create learning networks with diaspora communities.
CIM will be implemented in the context of the International diaspora Engagement Alliance (IdEA), which was launched by U. S Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on May 17 in Washington, DC at the Global Diaspora Forum. Other partners include the Inter- American Development Bank and Scotiabank.
During the Global Diaspora Forum, Clinton said: “As a collaborator, we will work closely with diaspora leaders and other partners to implement projects and maximise our impact.”
Colm Delves, Group CEO of Digicel, explains: “The six million strong global diaspora community consists of highly skilled and educated entrepreneurs and is acknowledged as an important engine of growth and development in the United States and beyond.
“As the number one mobile operator in the region, Digicel has been instrumental in driving innovation, growing economies, and creating employment and opportunities for the people of the Caribbean. As such, we applaud the U. S. Department of State’s commitment to spurring employment and economic growth in the Caribbean, and are delighted to be a part of this fantastic programme.”
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